Combined harrow



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. M. POORE.

COMBINED HARROW, SMOOTHER, AND SEEDER.

No. 359,363. Patented Mar. 15, 1887.

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(Nd Model.) '2 She'ets-Shet 2.

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GOM'BINEDHARROW, SMOOTHER, AND SEEDER. M No. 359,363. I Patented Mar. 15, 1887.-

Witnesses $2913 aftoiueqo N PETERS. Pholo-Litho nphun W lihhlglfln. D. c.

'1 N ED-STATE PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. rooms, or srnrne VALLEY, MINNESOTA.

,COIVIBINED HARROW, sMoo Ti- E AND SEEDER.

srncrrroA'rron forming arrot was latent No. 359,363,; dated March 15, 1887.

Application filed December 10, 1886. Serial No. 221,225. (No model.)

'Toall whom/it may concern; p

Be it known that I, J AME'sM; PooRE,a citi zen of the "United filtates," residing at Spring Valley, in the county of Fillmore and State of Minnesota, have invented; a new and useful Improvement in Combined Harrow, Smoother, and Seeder, of which the following is aspecif 'ficationzj This invention is an improved combined harrow, smoother, and seeder; and it consists in the peculiar constructionand combination of devices, that will be more fully set forth'here inafter, and particularly pointed out in'the claims. Y

In the drawings, Figure l is a top plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view takenon linew of'Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional 'view taken on,li ne y yofFig. 1.. Fig; 5 is a detail'view of the seed-slide' A represents a smoother, comprising two sections, each of which is composed of a pair of boards, B, arranged parallel with each other and 'one-behindthe other, the saidboards'lbe'}- ing'inclinedso as ,to have their front sides higher than their rear sides, and connected to gether by means of longitudinal bars 0. The

front board of one section is shorter than the corresponding front board of the other section, and its rear boardis longer than that of the corresponding rear board of the other section, so that the meeting ends of the two sections form a lap-joint, as shown in Fig. 1, and the said meeting ends of the two sections of the smoother are connected together by means of links D, which have their extremities pivoted to the front and rear. sides of the sections. On the center longitudinal bar, 0, of each section of the smoother, at the front end thereof, is secured at bearing-block, E.

F represents a hopper, the width of which corresponds to the extreme width of the two sections of the smoother, andthe said hopper is provided on its rear side with a bar, G, that is bolted thereto, theends of the said bar forming spindles H, to enter the bearing-blocks E, and thereby pivot-the hopper on the front upper sides of the smoother. On the under side of the hopper, and extending throughout its entire width, is a forwardly and downwardly the hopper is provided with the usual openings for the escape of the seed, and above the bottom of the hopper is located a slide, K,

which is provided with a series of small openings, L, that are adapted to'register with the larger openings in the bottom of the hopper. Mrepresents a seed-slide,which is located in the bottom of the hopper, and is provided on its under side with a series of oblique corrugations, M; ,The rear side of the hopper, near its upper edge and near the center, has a rearwardly-extending arm, N, to which is pivoted a bell-crank lever, O. The inner arm of the said lever, which projects forwardly into the upper side of the hopper, is connected to the seed-slide by a rod, T.

{To the center ofthe bar G, and projecting rearwardly therefrom, is pivotally connected an arm, R, between the bifurcated rear end of which is journaled a trailing wheel, S; To one end of the shaft whichturns with the said wheel is attached acrankor eccentric, T, that is connected to the rear arm of the bell-crank lever O by means of a pitman, U, the front end of which is turned downwardly, and is thereby adapted to be readily attached to the rear arm of the bell-crank lever by being inserted in an opening in the said arm, and this downturued end of the pitman enables the same to be readily detached from the bell-crank lever. A slotted arm, V, is pivoted to the bar G below the bell-crank lever, for the purpose to be hereinafter explained.

W represents a harrow, which is made in two sections pivotally connected together by a link, X, that is similar to the links D. The said sections of the harrow are each composed of a pair of parallel bars, Y, and a series of barrow-teeth, Z, which are connected to the said bars. The front and rear bars of the harrow-sections are of unequal lengths, so as to form a lap-j oint at the meeting ends of the sections similar to the lap-joint formed by the meeting ends of the sections of the smoother.

A represents a series of links or arms, which are pivoted to the front side of the smoother and to the rear side of the harrow, so as to connect the former to the latter and adapt it to be dragged in rear thereof. The front side of each barrow-section is provided at its center with an eye, B.

0' represents a tongue or draftpole having a brace cross-bar, V, at its rear end, provided with hooks which are adapted to engage the eyes B, so as to connect the draft pole or tongue to the front side of the barrow.

E represents a seat for the driver, which is provided with laterally-diverging spring bars or arms F,having their lower outer ends slotted. Bolts G extend through the said slots and enter the central bars, 0, of the smoother sections,so as to secure the seat thereupon. A bar, H, forming a foot-rest, has its downturned end provided with slotted openings adapted to fit over the upper ends of some of the barrow-teeth, so as to connect the said foot-rest to the barrow-sections in front of the smoother.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The seeds to be sown are placed in the hopper, the pitman U is connected to the bellerank lever, and the driver mounts a seat, E, and directs the team, the slide K being previously moved so as to cause its openings Lto register with the openings in the bottom of the hopper. As the machine advances, the barrow-teeth stir and pulverize the soil, the smoother breaks up the small lumps and clods, and also compresses the surface soil firmly and compactly, to prevent the loss of its moisture by evaporation in warm weather, and the r0- tation of the trailing wheel causes the bellcrank lever to oscillate and thereby reciprocate the seed-slide in the bottom of the hopper. The seeds escape from the openings in the bottom of the hopper onto the deflecting board or plate I, and are scattered by the same evenly on the ground in rear of the harrow and in advance of the smoother, so that the seeds are covered by the latter at a suitable depth in the ground.

A machine thus constructed is particularly adapted for sowing grass and small grains such as wheat, rye, and oatsis very cheap and simple, is easily constructed, and is exceedingly durable.

By making the harrow and the smoother in two sections connected together by links, the said harrow and smoother sections are adapted to play vertically independently of each other and adapt themselves to inequalities of the ground. The lap-joints formed at the meeting ends of the said harrow and smoother sections prevent any portions of the ground from being skipped or left unoperated upon.

In the event that it is desired to discontinue sowing the seeds while the machine is in motion on the field, this may be readily done by the driver by simply disconnecting the front end of the pitman from the bell-crank lever and inserting it in the slot of the pivoted idlearm V.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, in the construction of seeders it has been the practice to connect the seed mechanism to a wheel at one or both ends of the hopper. This construction is disadvantageous, for the reason that when the machine is turning at the end of a row or to avoid an angle or obstruction in the field, if the driving-wheel happens tobe at the center of the circle described by the machine, or approximately so, it will run very slowly, and consequently the seeds will not be sown so rapidly or so thickly as when the machine, is traveling in astraightline. I avoid this objection by connecting the seed mechanism to a wheel which is at the center of the machine, and the said wheel is thus caused to rotate at an equal rate of speed, whether the machine is traveling in a straight line or on a curve, and consequently the seeds are scattered with the same rapidity and in the same quantities at all portions of the field.

a (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2) represents a seat which is adapted to be attached to the arm B, so that the weight of the driver may be imposed on thetrailing wheel, to prevent the latter from slipping and cause it to rotate, so as to operate the seed-bar.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination of the smoother, the hopper pivoted on the front side thereof and supported above the smoother, the. seeding mechanism in the hopper, the arm R, proj ecting rearward from the hopper, and the driving-whecl S, journaled to arm R and connected to the seeding mechanism, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the smoother having the blocks E, the hopper having the seeding mechanism and provided on its rear under side with the bar Gr, journaled in the blocks E, the arm R, pivoted to the center of the bar G and extending rearward therefrom, and the trailing driving-wheel S, journaled to the bar G and connected to'the seeding mechanism, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the smoother, the hopper supported above and in front of the smoother and having the seeding mechanism and the rearward-extending ar'm R, the wheel S, journaled to the said arm and connected to the seeding mechanism to actuate the latter, and the harrow and the links connecting the same to the front side of the smoother, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the smoother, the hopper secured thereto and supported thereby, the seed-slide in the hopper, the arm R, extending rearward from the hopper, the driving-wheel S, journaled to said arm and having the crank-wheel, the bell-crank lever O, fulcrumed to the hopper, the rod T, connecting the said lever to the seed-slide, and the pitman connecting the bell-crank lever to the crank-wheel, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the smoother, the hopper pivoted thereto and adapted to turn in a vertical direction, the arm R, pivotally connected to the rear side of the hopper and adapted to turn in a horizontal direction, and the wheel S, journaled to the rear end of the arm R, substantially as described.

6.- The combination, in a seeder, of the hopper having the seeding mechanism, and the bellcrank lever 0, connected thereto, the idle slotted arm V, projecting from the hopper, the arm R, extending rearward from the hopper, the wheel S, journaled to said arm and having the crank-wheel, and the pitman connected at its rear end to the crank-wheel, and having its front end adapted to be attached to the bellcrank lever or inserted in the slotted idle-arm V, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the smoother, the

hopper attached thereto and having the seed- JAMES M. POORE.

Witnesses: W. L. KELLOGG, Mrs. J. B. VIALL. 

